Patient garment

ABSTRACT

A garment for health care use is disclosed. The garment comprises at least one rear panel, at least two front panels and a plurality of releasable seams, positioned along peripheral regions of said at least one rear panel and said at least two front panels for releasably connecting said at least two front panels to said at least one rear panel. Each of the at least two front panels is permanently connected to the at least one rear panel at least one position. At least a portion of one the front panels overlaps the other. The rear and front panels each comprise a plurality of flaps or regions which can be folded over when in use as worn by a wearer, to expose different areas of said wearer&#39;s body.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a garment, particularly although notexclusively to a patient garment for use in health care.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional hospital gowns are provided for patients when in hospital,to use instead of the patient's normal clothes. There are severalreasons for using hospital gowns including:

-   -   Hospital gowns are more hygienic; the patient's own clothes may        be dirty or contain bacteria.    -   Hospital gowns in some cases are made of paper or thin plastic        and can therefore be incinerated, reducing the transmission of        disease and infection.    -   Health care workers find that thin hospital gowns are convenient        for listening to the heart and lungs of patients.    -   Nurses giving injections to patients find it easier when the        patient is wearing a gown rather than their normal clothing.    -   Hospital gowns are thinner and looser than normal clothing, so        patients are less likely to overheat.

There are several types of known hospital gown, including those fornormal patient use, and those for special use including for examplebariatric gowns and maternity gowns. Known hospital gowns include rearopening clinic gowns, and front opening kimono type gowns.

Referring to FIG. 1 herein, there is illustrated schematically in viewfrom the front, an example of a known rear opening hospital gown. Thegown comprises a single piece, having left and right sleeves, throughwhich the arms can be fitted, and which is tied at the rear by one ormore Velcro® type fastenings or one or more tie straps.

A problem with the known hospital gowns of the rear opening or smocktype consisting of a sheet like section with two arms folded around thewearer from the front and tied at the rear near the spine, are that thegown must be removed almost entirely for any procedure to the front bodyarea. Further, when worn, the gowns generally do not cover the patient'snether regions completely, and therefore leads to loss of dignity of thepatient. This type of gown can leave part of the wearer's back andbuttocks exposed.

Referring to FIG. 2 herein, there is illustrated schematically in viewfrom the front, a known front opening clinic gown. The front openinggown is based on a kimono style, which is worn similarly to a coat ordressing gown, and which has two front flaps which cross over the body.A first front flap is secured by a tie strap near the right hip and asecond front flap is secured by a second tie strip on the left hip,presenting externally. The gown is of a loose fitting and comfortablenature.

Known hospital gowns are made in a variety of colors and differentfabrics and sizes for both female and male patients, and are used inhospitals, clinics, nursing homes and the like.

The specific embodiments presented herein aim to provide a garment whichallows easy access to a patient's body areas without removal of thegarment, and whilst at the same time being comfortable to use, andmaintaining a patient's modesty and dignity. The specific embodimentspresented herein aim to provide a more acceptable garment to a patientwhich is both comfortable and dignified for a patent and practical forhealth care workers and patient's alike.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect there of the present invention, there isprovided a patient garment for health care use, said garment comprising:

-   -   at least one rear panel;    -   at least two front panels; and    -   a plurality of releasable seams, positioned along peripheral        regions of said at least one rear panel and said at least two        front panels for releasably connecting said at least two front        panels to said at least one rear panel; wherein    -   each of the at least two front panels is permanently connected        to the at least one rear panel at at least one position;    -   at least a portion of one the front panels overlaps the other;        and    -   said rear and front panels each comprise a plurality of flaps or        regions which can be folded over when in use as worn by a        wearer, to expose different areas of said wearer's body.

The garment according to this aspect can advantageously be wornFront-to-back as expected for most situations, but also back-to-frontwhen the wearer's ailment, or body part treatment, or some othercondition, requires it.

Other aspects are as set out in the claims herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same maybe carried into effect, there will now be described by way of exampleonly, specific embodiments, methods and processes according to thepresent invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a known hospitalgown of the rear opening type;

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a known hospitalgown of the front opening robe or kimono type;

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a patient garmentaccording to a specific embodiment herein in view from the front;

FIG. 4 illustrates schematically in perspective view, the embodimentpatient garment in view from the rear;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a jacket, shirt ortop of the patient garment of FIG. 3 herein in a first opened upconfiguration in view from the front;

FIG. 6 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a jacket, shirt ortop of the patient garment of FIG. 3 herein in a second opened upconfiguration as viewed from the front;

FIG. 7 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a jacket, shirt ortop of the patient garment of FIG. 3 herein in a third opened upconfiguration as viewed from the front;

FIG. 8 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a pair oftrousers, pants or bottoms comprising the patient garment of FIG. 3 in afirst opened up configuration as viewed from the front;

FIG. 9 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a pair oftrousers, pants or bottoms comprising the patient garment of FIG. 3 in asecond opened up configuration as viewed from the front;

FIG. 10 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a pair oftrousers, pants or bottoms comprising the patient garment of FIG. 3 inview from the left hand side;

FIG. 11 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a pair oftrousers, pants or bottoms comprising the patient garment of FIG. 3 in athird opened up configuration as viewed from the left hand side; and

FIG. 12 illustrates schematically in perspective view, a pair oftrousers, pants or bottoms comprising the patient garment of FIG. 3 in afourth opened up configuration as viewed from the left hand side.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

There will now be described by way of example a specific modecontemplated by the inventors. In the following description numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding. It will be apparent however, to one skilled in the art,that the present invention may be practiced without limitation to thesespecific details. In other instances, well known methods and structureshave not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure thedescription.

In the following description, drawings are shown of a garment, in whicha user or wearer of the garment is not shown, so as not to obscuredetails of the garment itself. However, various features of the garmentsare described with reference to features of the human body of patient orwearer, as will be understood by the person skilled in the art.References to anatomical parts of a patient, wearer or user are to beunderstood to apply to the corresponding respective parts of the garmentwhich lie adjacent those anatomical parts when the garment is beingworn, for ease of understanding.

Referring to FIG. 3 herein there is illustrated schematically in frontview, a patient garment according to a first specific embodiment.

The patient garment comprises a top, shirt or jacket 300 (hereinafterreferred to as a top), and a pair of trousers, pants or bottoms 400(hereinafter referred to as bottoms).

The top comprises a rear panel 301 having an upper perimeter extendingfrom the shoulders and the nape of the neck, to a lower perimeter nearthe wearer's waist; a left front panel 302 extending from the wearer'sleft side, under their left arm, across the body to the wearer's righthip and diagonally across the chest; a right panel 303 extending acrossthe wearer's body from the wearer's right shoulder, and right underarm,across the body to the wearer's left side at a position under the leftarm and near the left hip; a left sleeve 304 connected to the rear paneland the left front panel; and a right sleeve 305 joined to a right handside of the rear panel and to the front right panel.

It will be understood by the person skilled in the art that the top 300can also be produced in the opposite sense, that is, wherein the leftfront panel overlaps the right front panel, in an alternativeembodiment.

In visual appearance, the top 300 resembles a short sleeved kimono styleshirt.

The front left portion and the rear portion are preferably permanentlyconnected to each other at a position underneath the left sleeve, andsimilarly, the front right panel and the right portion of the rear panelare preferably connected to each other at a position underneath theright sleeve. This allows the three main panels of the top to remainconnected to each other for laundry, and avoids having the front leftand rear panels of different tops becoming mixed up with each other.Also, if the garment is to be incinerated, then all three garments ofthe panel can remain attached to each other to be taken away forincineration.

In other embodiments, the front right panel and/or front left panel maybe completely detachable from each other and from the rear panel.

As shown in FIG. 4 herein, for the top, the peripheral regions of thefront left panel 302 are detachably connected to peripheral regions ofthe rear panel 301 by separable or detachable seams. Similarly,peripheral regions of the right front panel 303 are detachably connectedto other peripheral regions of the rear panel 301, so that the top hasdetachable seams allowing health care workers easy access to the side ofthe chest, the area around the neck and clavicle, the left arm and theright arm, and to the patient's shoulder and back area, by detaching thecorresponding seams. Individual seams can be detached without the needto detach other seams, to allow easy access for examination andtreatment of the patient's upper body.

Referring to FIG. 4 herein for the top 300, an upper left shoulder partof the left front panel is attached at an upper left shoulder end of therear panel 301 by a left shoulder seam 306, and the sleeve portion ofthe left front panel is attached to the rear left sleeve portion 304 ofthe rear panel by a left sleeve seam 307. A left underarm seam 308connects a left peripheral portion of the rear panel 301 to a leftperipheral region of the left front panel 302.

Similarly, a right shoulder seam 309 connects an upper edge of the rightfront panel 303 to an upper edge of the rear panel 301 on the right handside of the wearer, and a right sleeve seam 310 connects a front panelof the right sleeve 305 to a sleeve panel 311 of the rear panel 301. Aright hand edge of the rear panel 301 is connected to a right hand edgeof the right front panel, by a right under arm seam 312.

All seams are easily separable and re-attachable using the patient's ora hospital workers thumbs and fingers, and without excessive force orexcessive movement, which may disturb an injured patient who may be inpain.

Each seam comprises a near edge peripheral region of a first panel, forexample the rear panel, which has a. first attachment means, for examplepart of a hook and eye fastening such as a Velcro® fastening, orbuttons, or a button hole, and a near edge peripheral region of theother panel, for example a front panel, which has a correspondingopposite attachment means, such as an opposite sense Velcro® strip or anopposite button hole or button. In the best mode, the seams are attachedby Velcro® pads attached on either side of the seam.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 herein, the bottoms or trousers 400 comprisea left leg 401 and a right leg 402. The right leg comprises a frontpanel 403 extending from a position between the wearer's front centerline and the wearer's left hip, and from the left hip, across thewearer's groin and extending down the wearer's right leg, and a rearpanel 404 extending from a center line on the wearer's rear buttocks,and from the wearer's hip, down the rear of the right leg, towards thewearer's ankle.

The left leg 401 comprises a front panel 405 extending from the wearer'sright hip, and from the wearer's waist line at a position between thewearer's front center line and the wearer's right hip down to thewearer's left ankle and extending across a front of the wearer's leftleg; and a rear left panel 406 extending from a center line down thewearer's body covering the left buttock and extending down the rear ofthe left leg.

A detachable and re-attachable left hand seam 407 connects a left edgeof the left front panel 405 to a left edge of the left rear panel 406.The left front panel 405 comprises, at its upper left edge, an extendingwaist tab 408, having a Velcro® type strip 409, for attaching the upperedge of the left front panel to a left upper corner of the left rearpanel 406, to form a continuation waist band between the rear panel andthe front left panel.

Similarly, the right front panel 403 has a right hand edge at which ispositioned a right hand seam 410 extending from the wearer's waist, downto the bottom of the right leg, and which is detachable andre-attachable. At the upper right hand corner of the right front panel403, there is positioned a right waist tab 411, which overlaps with aright hand upper corner of the rear panel, and attaches therewith bymeans of Velcro® or like fastening means, to form a continuation of awaist band around the wearer's waist. In the center of the rear panel atthe upper end, there is an elasticated waist strip 412.

The rear panel of the trousers, at its upper edge, an elasticated waistband 412, so that the trousers, whilst being comfortable, can be wornwithout the need for a belt, and without accidentally falling down.

For the trousers, the rear panel is preferably permanently connected tothe front left leg panel at the crotch position and down the inside leftleg, and similarly, the front right leg panel is connected to the rearpanel at the crotch region and down the inside right left.

Referring to FIG. 5 herein, there is illustrated schematically in thetop in opened out view. As shown in FIG. 5, the top can be opened outwhen worn, by swinging the right front panel 303 across the wearer'sbody, and swinging the left front panel 302 across the wearer's body toexpose the stomach and chest, as with a conventional kimono typegarment.

Referring to FIG. 6 herein, there is illustrated schematically in viewfrom the front, the top 300, opened to give access to the wearer's rightshoulder and right upper arm. The upper seam 309 of the front rightpanel, and the upper seam 310 of the right sleeve detach from thecorresponding respective upper edge regions of the right hand side ofthe back panel, folding downwards to allow access to the wearer's rightshoulder, right collar bone, the right hand side of the neck, and theupper portion of the wearer's right arm.

Similarly, the upper portion of the left front panel 302 may also bedetached at the left shoulder seam 306 and left seam sleeve 307 toexpose the left clavicle, the left shoulder and upper arm, and thepatient's left neck.

Referring to FIG. 7 herein, there is illustrated schematically the top300 opened up to allow access to the hip and abdominal region of apatient wearing the top. The lower part of the right seam 312 of theright front panel can be detached from the lower part of the right handseam of the rear panel, and similarly, the left hand seam 308 of theleft front panel can be detached from the corresponding left hand seamof the rear panel, so that both the front and rear panels can be foldedupwardly across a line substantially across the wearer's body, to exposethe wearer's abdomen and hip area.

Referring to FIG. 8 herein, there is illustrated schematically thetrousers, pants or bottoms 400, showing access to the groin region ofthe wearer. An upper substantially triangular portion of the right frontpanel can be folded over forwardly or outwardly across a line extendingfrom the crotch to a position adjacent the wearer's right hip.Similarly, an upper portion of the left front panel can be foldedoutwardly, about a second line extending substantially from the wearer'scrotch adjacent the wearer's left hip, so that with both panels foldedoutwardly, the wearer's groin region is exposed.

Referring to FIG. 9 herein, there is illustrated schematically in viewfrom the front, the bottoms 400 in a second opened out configuration toexpose the wearer's hip and groin area. In this configuration, thewearer may either be standing up, or (more likely) lying in the supineposition on a bed or table. The upper portions of both the front leftleg panel and front right leg panel are detached from the correspondingrespective rear left and right leg panels by separating the externalside seams, allowing the upper parts of the two front panels to folddownwardly along a fold line substantially across the top of thewearer's legs. As shown in FIG. 9, there are first and second hook andeye Velcro® type attachment pads 900, 901 on each of the respective leftand right front panels which attach to corresponding Velcro® pads on thewaist portion of the rear panel. An outer seam of the left front panelis detached from a corresponding outer seam of the left rear panel.Similarly, an outer seam of the right front panel detaches from an outerseam at the right hand side of the rear panel, by detaching the Velcro®or other like fastenings from each other. After examination ortreatment, the panel can simply be folded over the wearer's lowerabdomen, hip and groin area, and the left and right seams 902, 903, 904and 905 being reconnected manually.

Referring to FIG. 10 herein, there is illustrated schematically in viewfrom the left hand side, the bottoms 400. As shown in view from theside, the rear left panel 406 extends from the wearer's ankle up totheir waist, and is connected to the left front panel 405 of thetrousers. An upper portion of the right front panel 403 is shownconnected adjacent the wearer's waist on the left hand side of theirbody. An outer seam 407 extending from the wearer's hip down to thewearer's ankle connects the left rear portion 404 and the left rightpanel 403 using one or a plurality of fasteners 1000, 1001, 1002 and1003 which can be detached or re-attached easily by a nurse's or othermedical practitioner's hands.

Ideally, separable seams are fastened by a type of fastener which can beeasily manipulated without the need for excessive manual pressure orforcing, which may disturb the patient, for example with an injury.Typically, Velcro®, buttons, plastic press studs, zip fastenings orsimilar fastenings may be employed. In some embodiments, metal pressstuds or buttons may be employed, however preferably the material usedfor the fastenings would be non-metallic, so as not to show up on orinterfere with x-ray procedures.

Referring to FIG. 11 herein, there is illustrated schematically in viewfrom the left hand side, the trousers or bottoms 400, with the uprightseparable seam 407 between the outer portion of the left front panel andthe outside of the left rear panel separated, but retaining theattachment of the upper part of the left front panel with the upper partof the left rear panel, so as to form a continuous waist band around thewearer's waist. As shown, this exposes substantially all of the wearer'sleft leg from the hip downwards, by folding the front left panelforward. Similarly, although not shown in FIG. 11, the left rear panelcan also be folded away from the wearer's leg in order to give access tothe side and rear of the wearer's left leg.

Similarly, the outer seam of the right hand leg may be detached to allowinspection of the right leg.

Referring to FIG. 12 herein there is illustrated schematically openingof the left leg of the trousers, for inspection of the whole of thewearer's left leg (leg not shown in FIG. 12). In this configuration, theseam extending along the outside of the left leg is fully detached sothat the seam on the outside of the left front panel is fully detachedfrom the outer seam on the leg portion of the back rear panel. Thisallows the left front panel to be fully folded forward exposing thefront portion of the wearer's left leg, and similarly, the left portionof the back panel can be also folded backwards, to expose the rear ofthe wearer's left leg, and the rear part of the wearer's buttock.

The right hand side of the trousers opens out similarly as the left handside as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

Preferably The three main panels of the trousers remain connected toeach other at the crotch position, so that if the trousers are sent forlaundry, different left and right portions of different garments do notget mixed up with each other. This avoids panels from different sizes ofgarments being mixed up with each other, as well as providing fortraceability for infection control. Also, the three panels of thegarment remain attached to each other when the garment is sent fordestruction/incineration.

In other embodiments of the bottoms 400, the back panel front left paneland front right panel may be completely detachable from each other andfrom the rear panel.

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A garment for health care use, said garment comprising at least one rear panel; at least two front panels; and a plurality of releasable seams, positioned along peripheral regions of said at least one rear panel and said at least two front panels for releasably connecting said at least two front panels to said at least one rear panel; wherein each of the at least two front panels is permanently connected to the at least one rear panel at at least one position; at least a portion of one the front panels overlaps the other; and said rear and front panels each comprise a plurality of flaps or regions which can be folded over when in use as worn by a wearer, to expose different areas of said wearer's body.
 17. The garment as claimed in claim 16, wherein a said releasable seam comprises a first seam area positioned at a peripheral region of a said panel; and a second seam area positioned at a peripheral region of another said panel, wherein said first and second seam areas are attachable to each other and detachable from each other.
 18. A garment according to claim 16 for covering an upper part of a wearer's body, wherein: the at least one rear panel is for extending across a wearer's back; a first of the at least two front panels is for extending across a wearer's body from a left hand side of the body to a right hand side of the body, said first panel extending from a wearer's left shoulder to a wearer's right hip region; and a second of the at least two front panels is for extending from a right hand side of the wearer's body, and extending from the wearer's right hand shoulder to a position overlapping at least a portion of said first front panel.
 19. The garment as claimed in claim 18, wherein said first front panel extends from a said wearer's left hand side across a central portion of the body to the wearer's hip.
 20. The garment as claimed in claim 18, wherein said second front panel extends from a position on the right hand side of said wearer, across said wearer's body to a position adjacent said wearer's left hip.
 21. The garment as claimed in claim 18, wherein each of the first and second front panels is permanently connected to the at least one rear panel at an under-arm position.
 22. The garment as claimed in claim 18, comprising a shirt, or top, or jacket.
 23. A garment according to claim 16 for covering a lower part of a wearer's body, wherein: the at least one rear panel has first and second leg portions; a first of the at least two front panels is a first leg panel attachable and detachable from said first leg portions; and a second of the at least two front panels is a second leg panel attachable and detachable from said second rear leg portion.
 24. The garment as claimed in claim 23, wherein: each of the first and second leg panel has an upper edge, a lower edge and an outer edge; and the rear panel has an upper waist region, and first and second leg regions; and an upper edge and first and second outer edges; wherein an outer edge of said first leg panel is releasably connectable to an outer edge of said rear panel; and an outer edge of said second leg panel is releasably connected to a corresponding outer edge of said rear panel.
 25. The garment as claimed in claim 23, wherein said rear panel incorporates an elasticated waist band.
 26. The garment as claimed in claim 23, wherein an upper portion of said first leg panel extends, in use, across an upper portion of said second leg panel.
 27. The garment as claimed in claim 26, wherein the upper portion of said first leg panel is a substantially triangular portion of the front panel overlapping the second leg panel, which can be folded over forwardly or outwardly across a line extending from the crotch to a position adjacent the wearer's right hip.
 28. The garment as claimed in claim 27, wherein the upper portion of said second leg panel overlapped by the first leg panel can be folded outwardly about a line extending substantially from the wearer's crotch adjacent the wearer's left hip, whereby the wearer's groin region is exposed when both upper portions are folded outwardly.
 29. The garment as claimed in claim 23, comprising a pair of trousers.
 30. A garment according to any of claims 16, wherein each releasable seam comprises a hook and eye fastening. 